Ayden Ingratta is on a roll right now with his Racing Edge Motorsports team after notching his third and fourth straight victories in international competition.
The RMC Americas Trophy hosted its first of two events this summer, which will award tickets to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals to its champions. Ingratta was one of a large group of Canadians racers who travelled to the very warm south-western state for the weekend and competed under extremely warm weather at the Mussellman Honda Circuit.
After coming up just short in the RMC Winter Trophy championship in Texas, Ingratta has been unstoppable, winning races at the SKUSA Winter Series and ROK Cup Florida Winter Tour, coming into the RMC Americas event.
Dominating the action in Rotax Senior, the largest category of the event, Ingratta swept both Saturday and Sunday’s action to take home a pair of first-place trophies, along with the outright points lead, which he will carry to round two at the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati in Batavia, Ohio, in June.
He also utilized the weekend to get a grip on the Tucson circuit that he will compete on this coming weekend for the SKUSA WinterNationals, albeit swapping his Rotax Max engine for an IAME X30.
“What has helped me the most during this run is definitely the people around me. Having a team like Racing Edge Motorsports and engines from GRE Power gives me the confidence to focus on driving. We’ve been working really hard on testing, data, and constantly improving every session. I’ve also been focusing a lot on staying calm, being consistent, and executing every race the same way. When you combine preparation, a great team, and consistency, the results start to come.”
– Ayden Ingratta
Bouthillier Joins Ingratta on Saturday Podium
One Canadian driver who is still somehow seeking his first Rotax Grand Finals ticket is William Bouthillier, and he had another strong weekend at the RMC Americas Trophy.
Bouthillier drove to a P3 finish on Saturday to stand on the podium alongside his Racing Edge Motorsports teammate.
Sunday was a little trickier. After starting the Final from outside the top-ten, Bouthillier pushed forward to finish P7 and leaves the weekend P3 in the championship standings.
Alexis Baillergeon also had a strong weekend in Tucson, and his results see him leave the weekend two spots behind Bouthillier with a shot at the title in Cincinnati.
Sunday Victory in Adi in Mini Max
A second Canadian was able to top the podium at the RMC Americas Trophy as Yousef Adi (Jay Howard Driver Development) took home the victory in Sunday’s Mini Max Final.
It was a near-perfect day for Adi, who continues to thrive in Mini Max this season. He qualified in the top three, won the Prefinal and took home the race win.
He leaves the weekend in P2 in the championship behind his teammate, USA’s Hudson Howard.
Another Canadian to leave the weekend with a shot at the championship is Tristan Francisco in Micro Max. He ranks third via two top-four finishes, his best being P2 on Saturday.
Canadians Find Success in the new FZ Shifter categories
The RMC Americas Trophy also saw the debut of the FZ Shifter division that will compete alongside the Rotax Max engines in the USA. A few Canadians jumped at the opportunity to race a shifter kart in Tucson this weekend.
In the FZ85 Junior division, Brandon Ng (Factory Kart), who has been busy racing around the world recently, drove to a runner-up finish.
In the FZ 125 Seniors, Ziming Wang (Falcon Kart) marked his return with a P3 finish.
Canadian Teams Fill the Paddock in Tucson
While some teams took part this weekend in preparation for the SKUSA Winter Nationals next weekend in Tucson, the paddock featured a number of Canadian race teams who made the long trek to Arizona for the weekend.
Racing Edge Motorsports, Premier Karting, Pfaff Kartsport and CEF made the trek from Ontario, while XLR8 and BBR Karting arrived from British Columbia.
From our calculations, Canadians made up 30% of the entries, 32 of the 106 drivers.
Next up: RMC Americas Trophy R2 in Cincinnati
The second half of the RMC Americas Trophy will take place at the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati in Batavia, Ohio, on June 5-7, where four tickets to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals will be awarded.
One each to the champions of the Mini Max, Junior Max and Senior Max categories, as well as one to the vice-champion in Senior Max (to compete in DD2 at the Grand Finals).
In addition, the Micro Max and Masters Max Champions will win their way to the US Trophy Final.
The US Trophy Final will take place at New Castle Motorsports Park in Indiana on July 3-August 2, where six more Rotax Grand Finals tickets will be available to be won. Learn more on http://racerotax.com.
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